Alice Springs Hospital medical officer recruitment

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

The Department of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology is a small but busy clinical unit at Alice Springs
Hospital.

The birth rate at Alice
Springs Hospital is approximately 800 deliveries per annum.

About 60 per
cent of women delivering at Alice Springs are Indigenous. The delivery rates do
not truly reflect the clinical workload. The case mix is varied and
includes a high pre-term delivery rate and serious maternal morbidity with infectious
diseases, diabetes mellitus, renal disease and rheumatic heart
disease.

Doctors in training gain valuable clinical exposure to Indigenous
health issues and high risk medical obstetrics, as well as a first-hand
experience of varied and specific challenges faced in providing health care to
a population as diverse as that found in the Northern Territory.

Teaching

The Department Of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology is a teaching unit for medical students from the Northern
Territory Clinical School, affiliated with Flinders University of South
Australia. The teaching program includes:

Once weekly education session: may be on topics relevant to Certificate of Women’s Health/ Diploma, or journal article review

Once weekly case presentations discussing perinatal morbidity

Quarterly perinatal mortality audits

Other specific learning
opportunities are provided by:

A dedicated Early Pregnancy Clinic: runs on a daily basis, and provides an opportunity for performing hands-on supervised ultrasound examination in the first trimester, as well as gaining confidence in the counselling and management of complications in the first trimester. Trainee registrars rate this clinic highly in achieving its teaching goals.

Opportunity to learn basic obstetric ultrasound

Opportunity to learn colposcopy within the general gynaecology clinics

Outreach visits to Indigenous community clinics and district hospitals: complements the experience of understanding the challenges of health care faced by health care providers in the NT.

Training

Alice Springs is currently
accredited with the Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists for advanced training, but not basic ITP (Integrated Training
Programme) training

Resident medical officer posts
of three, six and 12 months are available for general experience in obstetrics
and gynaecology and to pursue the diploma, advanced Diploma, and Certificate of
Women’s Health in obstetrics and gynaecology.